The City of Winnipeg, Manitoba is considering a ban on the sale of dogs in pet stores to stop the financial support of puppy-mills by local retail outlets. Check out this CTV article. (A special thanks to my friend Helen for sending me this information!)
Winnipeg has quite a few stores that sell animals, including puppies, so this law would go a long way to stopping the range of problems caused by retail sales of puppies and other animals. Amongst many pet stores, a Petland chain store is also located in Winnipeg. Petland is notorious for their sale of puppy-mill bred dogs (see: US Humane Society) and their connection with Hunte Corporation. Furthermore, in 2008, the US Humane Society sued Petland and the Hunte Corporation for racketeering and misleading customers. A quote from the lawsuit is below:
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Phoenix, alleges that Petland violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and numerous state consumer protection laws by misleading thousands of consumers across the country into believing that the puppies sold in Petland stores are healthy and come from high-quality breeders. Read more…
In 2008, two former Petland franchisees sued Petland and the Hunte Corporation for their horrific business practices (see: Animal Law Coalition).